NEW APPROACHES TO THE TYPOLOGY OF TERRITORIAL VARIANTS OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article examines the concept of variability of the French language as a multinational language that exists in territorial-social interconnection and functional interaction of various forms within certain geographical formations. To classify the available varieties of the French language, two types of criteria are proposed: sociolinguistic, covering historical and status-functional factors, and purely linguistic. In accordance with these criteria, four types of diatopic varieties are distinguished: the language standard, the national variant (two subspecies), the territorial variant (three subspecies), and the regional variant. The proposed typology of territorial variants is schematized in the table and also illustrated with specific examples. The authors conclude that further studies need to focus on each type of variety with the selection of certain subgroups, which will allow for a multi-component and detailed model of the territorial variability of the French language.